Saurashtra’s Ranji captain Jaydev Unadkat lead from the front helping his team to their maiden Ranji Trophy title. Unadkat’s Saurashtra defeated Bengal at Rajkot to be crowned as winners for the 2019-20 season. The left-arm pacer scalped 67 wickets throughout the season. More importantly, He played a very crucial role in the success of his team bowling match-winning spells in both the semi-final and finals.
Speaking of vouching for a come back in the Indian team setup, Unadkat said “I still have that hunger to make a comeback. The hunger has never been stronger than this and that actually kept me going throughout the season. To be honest, it was challenging physically surviving the season. Bowling those long spells as a fast bowler in almost every game.”
“I just want to keep this phase going. I don’t want to end it here. Yes, we have won the trophy and I am the happiest captain in the world right now If I can say that.”
The left-arm pacer last wore the Indian Jersey in 2018 against Bangladesh in a T20 International.
India’s middle-order batsmen, test mainstay and Saurashtra teammate Cheteshwar Pujara seems to concur with Jaydev Unadkat on this topic.
“Jaydev has bowled exceptionally well throughout the season. If someone takes 67 wickets in a season, I don’t think there is anyone who can perform better in the Ranji Trophy. There has to be a lot of importance to Ranji Trophy’s performance to get picked for the Indian team,” Pujara said.
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“Jaydev was modest that he would not be thinking about the Indian call but I will be surprised if he is not picked in the Indian team,” said India’s Test specialist.
Unadkat has earned a sizeable amount of money and costs big bucks to IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals. Being one of their most expensive buys, Unadkat is also their main player amongst other star performers. He is happy to have achieved one of his long pending dream of lifting the Ranji Trophy and will be eyeing a trophy-laden season helping his franchise to lift the IPL title under the captaincy of Steve Smith.
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“The second question about IPL does matter a lot to me. I have been working harder than many guys, as hard as any other cricketer in the country to earn my rewards. It was not just the IPL on my mind at any time. Yes, there was auction happening and people were talking just about that but this was something I really wanted to (win Ranji Trophy).
“I wanted to do it for the team, I wanted to do it for myself. I wanted to prove to myself that I don’t want to play the game for something other than cricket. I started playing this game because I was so passionate about it,” he said.
